Chapter 1: A Village is Born - How Certain Can We Be?

How certain can we be?

Eadbhert Charter

In this piece of the charter we can see the earliest record of the village, Mundelingehā. The bar above the 'a' indicates an abbreviation.

Some of our answers to questions raised at the beginning are more tentative than others. It is uncertain when Mundel arrived with his people but most likely it was in the second half of the fifth or early sixth century. The suffix ‘ingham’ indicates a great age for the settlement. According to King Eadbhert, Mongeham was already an ancient village by 762. It is likely that Mundel was a nobleman. Eadbhert could have gained his Mongeham lands through inheritance or marriage. According to his charter it was “possessed by kings of Cantia in former times and by us until the present”.

The map shows various features of the landscape with their current names. The arrangement of buildings at Mongeham Farm, Oak Cottage and the old bakery all display the pattern of ancient farmsteads and could possibly be the sites of Saxon farms. However more evidence would have to be found before any convincing case could be made.